My Mom has a green belt

Y'know, its a weird, fulfilling, awesome thing, teaching your parents things.

When we grow up, they're these omniscient beings, the source of all life's answers (how do they KNOW the stove is hot!?)

Then, at some point, our specialties diverge, and, pretty soon, we become able to help them in our own ways.

A common event is the youth teaching the old the technology of the youth - as was the case with my family and I.

I have two favorite memories of such an event.  One, was when I was teaching my Mom how to "move the line up" in a word processing program; and the abstractness to which the explanation of "deleting empty space" became.  The second, is the elaborate instructions required for my father to "turn on the internet".

But, I would say that one of the more impactual, more recent memories would definitely  be teaching my mom Martial Arts, and guitar hero.

Both, were so drastically outside of her self definition at the time, that it was truly inspiring and fulfilling to be there for her and to help her bridge the gap from impossible, to possible, to plausible, to doing, to struggling, to persevering, to done.

Now, of course, "done" is something nobody ever truly is, in anything.  There is always room for improvement.  But, at the same time, it is important to respect, honor, and celebrate milestones in our lives.  Measurable, quantifiable benchmarks that we set for ourselves.

So, to look at my Mom, and see her achieve a green belt at Shinka is really inspiring.  When I think about this vague memory I have of her being afraid to try martial arts, and think of what she has become... wow, honestly:  Wow.

From sitting behind her, holding guitar hero's guitar for her and getting her to strum while I did the fingering (and gradually getting her to do "just the reds" and so on) to teaching her to keep her hands up and how to redirect the force of larger opponents in martial arts...  in the end, its all learning, its all growing, and its all taken a lot of persevering, practice, and heart.

Thankfully, heart, is one of the things my Mom has a seemingly unlimited amount of.  When others have been beaten down, or have given up, you'll see my Mom not only continuing on, but, doing so with a smile on her face as she embraces life's challenges.

Does she get down?  Oh sure, we all do.  But she's like the friggin' wolverine of cheerful.  It might get wounded momentarily, but that healing factor kicks in, and she's back up and swingin' for the fences again.

Way to go Mum.

I'm proud of you :)

Sensei Ono, Shinka Martial Arts